Once people understand that the whole aim of conservatives was to destroy gov't and erode trust...

[seafan]

...and that now we need to strip out all of the greed meisters, warmongers and religious nuts and punish them, I think we will show that a government of, by and for the people will be restored.

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' ---Ronald Reagan, 40th president of US (1911 - 2004)

"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years," he says, "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." ----Grover Norquist

The same way the conservatives weakened the power of impeachment as a tool to remove them from office when it is sorely needed, they have deliberately spent the last 30 years destroying the people's trust in their government's ability to provided for the well-being of its citizens.


Now, we must forcibly remove these people from the levers of power and banish them from our government once and for all, prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law for their criminal acts. Then, we will allow those who have the security, health, education and economic stability of our nation's people ----ALL of the people--- as the top priority, to restore our governmental structure and faith in its ability to lead.



And ONLY THEN, we will restore faith in our government.

"The domination of special interests, the domination of lobbyists, the loss of a civic culture in Washington among public has led not only to well-known disasters, like the mismanagement of the Katrina situation, but quiet disasters, where you've got entire agencies that have been hollowed out and you've got political appointees who aren't concerned with the mission of those organizations," Obama said. "So we've got to transform Washington and we've got to do some house cleaning... part of my job, I think, as president, is to make government cool again." ---Barack Obama


Link

[babylonsister]

1. Sadly, their mission seems to have been accomplished. I wonder if

this brings them joy.

[Bread and Circus]

2. The entire notion of "shrinking government" as propose by the right is pure fantasy...

for the simple reason of what we spend our money on.

The vast majority of the federal budget is defense, medicare, and social security. Running them down one by one as follows shows their efforts would never be tolerated.

1.)Defense: obviously this is one area they don't want to shrink.
2.)Medicare: seniors are essentially uninsurable in the private market due to likelyhood of disease. Also, seniors vote. Just try to take medicare away from them.
3.)Social Security: again, seniors vote. They are also living longer, long past the ability to work. Just try to take away Grandma's rent check.

That's 80 to 85% of our national budge right there. So, outside of eviscerating 3 institutions who's powerful constituencies won't budget, exactly how can you cut things in half? Answer: you can't.

The real goal should be wise and prudent governance with just enough sensible regulation to make things work well.

[baldguy]

3. Smaller govt is a basically good concept.

But it presupposes that individuals have the knowledge & inclination to do the right thing most of the time - without an explicit threat of retaliation if they don't.

So, for example if you've got a few billion gallons of pig waste to get rid of as a responsible citizen you would spend an extra $70 mill to treat the waste instead of just dumping it directly into the nearest community's water supply. Right?

Or, if you run a large bank you would act to protect the money your depositors have given you, and in the best interest of the community you operate in. You only use those funds to make sound investments in local homes & businesses. You would not intentionally give loans to people who are unable to pay at usurious rates, so you can take every last penny from them before you sell off the loan to a credit company which is little better than a loan shark.

Republicans like smaller govt because it gives them greater opportunity to commit heinous crimes without getting caught.

[WinkyDink]

4. LOOTING. Their raison d'etre has always been LOOTING.

E.g., the goal of privatizing S.S.

E.g., the regressive S.S. tax.

E.g., the "war" in Iraq (AKA, loot Iraq's priceless artifacts; destroy its infrastructure to give the re-building contracts to Halliburton, Bechtel; steal its oil; etc.).

E.g. "NCLB", a "program" foisted upon American PUBLIC schools SOLELY IN ORDER TO ENRICH NEIL BUSH and "Ignite" and his FOREIGN backers. They sold this idea of "we need to test WITH PURCHASED TESTS all the time" remarkably successfully. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35297-2003Dec27?language=printer

E.g., anything else you can think of that Republican Administrations have perpetrated or attempted to perpetrate in the guise of "governing".

[seafan]

5. Digby: Bush now tells us that 'this is no time for partisanship'.

Digby, September 19, 2008:

Somebody told Bush he needed to sound confident and decisive and so he's adopted his hectoring "we WILL disarm Saddam Hussein" tone --- and short sellers are apparently the new Fedayeen. (Funny, he didn't seem to have a problem with such speculation when they were called "hedge fund managers.")

Short selling is a normal function of the market. In fact, it's essential. Those who are now crying because the financial sector is imploding and people are betting on its further imploding, have completely lost credibility --- and should have it stuffed down their throats if they ever offer even a whisper of the words "free market." Talk about a bunch of whiners.

Oh, and he also forcefully reminds us that this is no time for partisanship. I'll be looking to see the congress stand on the steps of the capital later this afternoon and sing "For The Love Of Money."

Somehow,I have a suspicion that being reminded that this bozo is at the helm isn't going to calm any waters.

[Atman]

6. K&R

Stuff sinks fast these days. Just tryin' to help out!

.

[seafan]

7. Thanks, Atman. You're right, it's a damn blizzard. n/t